FormulaE
Latest
Formula E's New York City race is set for Brooklyn next year
We already knew Forumla E was planning to race in New York City and now we have more details about the event. The all-electric race series announced during a press conference today that the final race of the 2016-2017 season, the New York City ePrix, will take place in the area around Pier 11 and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook. The two-day event is currently scheduled for July 29-30, 2017 with a 1.21-mile course that winds around the terminal's parking lot with two straightaways that run down the side of Pier 11.
ICYMI: Racecar drivers are being replaced by computers
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Formula E racing is gearing up for new robo-races with the DevBot, a hybrid vehicle that can be driven by a computer rather than a person. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania tested injecting a new hydrogel into animals and find that it helps thicken up weak, damaged tissue after heart attacks. If you want to test out the Trump chatbot, that's here, though a look at the candidate's Twitter account will deliver the same information. Drone enthusiasts here for the Gameboy Classic controller will find the original video on YouTube. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Faraday Future partners with a Formula E team
Despite only being on many people's radar for just over six months, electric car company Faraday Future has managed to keep itself firmly in the spotlight. It's already unveiled a prototype of its FFZero 1 supercar, struck up a deal with Aston Martin and announced plans for two EV factories. Oh, and it's working on self-driving technology as well. Some of those projects are still a way off, but today the company confirmed it'll soon jump into the world of Formula E, by way of a sponsorship and technical partnership with the Dragon Racing team.
Formula E will pit drivers against gamers in virtual race
The joys of motorsport are in watching the perfect fusion of mechanical engineering and human ingenuity, right? Apparently not, as Formula E's leaders have decided that the competition will now expand to include virtual races. In an interview with Reuters, Formula E chief Alejandro Agag says that the competition's first battle will take place at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. The event will put professional race drivers against pro gamers, duking it out on simulators with a track that won't be disclosed until the day. The action may be imagined, but the stakes are high, with the victorious driver in line to win a $1 million payoff.
Formula E is getting electric trucks from the creator of Roborace
Electric truck firm Charge will supply Formula E with several electric trucks, it revealed at last weekend's race in Paris. The trucks will help shuttle equipment around the track. Interestingly, the CEO of Charge is also the CEO of Roborace, a forthcoming driverless racing series. (Curiously enough, Denis Sverdlov is also the CEO behind YotaPhone -- but back to the trucks.) According to The Verge report, investment firm Kinetik has pumped $500 million dollars into Charge -- a firm also run by Sverdlov. While the trucks use some fuel to extend how far they can run on a single charge, the EVs will help to keep with the spirit behind the scenes of the electric-powered races.
Roborace will feature futuristic, sci-fiesque driverless cars
The first driverless racing series (dubbed Roborace) might make you feel like you're watching a sci-fi flick. Not only because you'll be witnessing AI-controlled vehicles speeding on the race track with no human drivers, but also because the car contenders will use looks like it belongs in a movie set. See, Roborace's organizers commissioned Daniel Simon to design its official car. And Simon is also the designer behind the lightcycles in Tron: Legacy, Oblivion's drones and spaceships, as well as Captain America's Hydra vehicles.
'Forza Motorsport 6' gets eSports tourneys anyone can join
If you're the sort to regularly set lap records in Forza Motorsport 6, you're about to have your moment in the sun. Making good on its bet on eSports, Microsoft has announced two Forza-based eSports tournaments for late March that give any would-be Lewis Hamilton a chance at winning real prizes. The first, the Race Off Pro Series, will have you vying for Formula E glory starting on March 24th. If you place well enough in time trials and full-on races, you'll win a trip to London to compete in a championship with cash prizes.
Jaguar returns to racing with its first all-electric car
Jaguar hasn't been involved with motorsports since it offloaded its Formula 1 team to Red Bull, but it's about to come back in a big, big way. The automaker has announced that it's working on an all-electric car (its first) that will compete in Formula E's third season, which kicks off in fall 2016. Jaguar is saying precious little about what that racer will be capable of, but the entry is possible because the beleaguered Trulli team is backing out of the league, leaving room for a new entrant.
Formula E is planning the first racing series for driverless cars
It was only last year that Formula E made its debut as the first racing series exclusively for electric cars. Now, after just two seasons of championships, its organizers are already preparing for another first: a driverless racing series. The series, dubbed Roborace, will begin with the 2016-2017 season, with each one-hour event taking place directly before all the "regular" Formula E races, and on the same circuits, to boot.
The new Formula E cars sound like upset cats
The second season of Formula E kicks off in October, and there's one key difference for the championship's sophomore year: custom batteries and motors. The teams are now able to experiment with the car's powertrain, which includes the e-motor, inverter, gearbox and cooling system. That means the cars will perform differently on the track, adding a little extra strategy and excitement to the proceedings. What we didn't expect, however, is the sound of the cars to change -- watch the video below for a glimpse at how they'll be screeching off the starting grid. Is it me, or do they all sound like confused felines?
Watch this EV racer go from 0-100 KPH in under two seconds
It's no secret that electric vehicles are strong performers, both on the streets and in professional racing tracks. But in case you had any doubts, a group of students from GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart have set a new world record with their battery-powered car, becoming the first ever to go from 0-100 KPH in 1.779 seconds. Once evaluated by Guinness World Records, GreenTeam Uni Stuttgart will officially have the fastest accelerating electric vehicle in the world -- the previous record was set at 1.785 seconds by the AMZ Racing Team, another Formula Student competitor, in 2014. It's quite an achievement, to say the least, so watch how it happened in the video below.
'Forza Motorsport 6' will let you drive every Formula E racecar
The first all-electric Formula E season may have just ended in real life, but the racers will keep going when Forza Motorsport 6 arrives. Microsoft announced today that after including a single car from the series as a DLC option for Forza 5, the sequel will include ten versions of the Renault Spark SRT_01E racecar representing each team. Other cars announced today include the 1988 Lamborghini Jalpa, 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C and 1985 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT Apex. The full list of cars announced so far (117 of 450 or so) is available on the official site, but we'll have to get closer to its September 15th release to see the rest.
Formula E's first season of electric racing comes to a close
After several months of occasionally intense competition, Formula E's first season of all-electric racing is over. Virgin Racing's Sam Bird has won the second race of the London ePrix, while NEXTEV TCR's Nelson Piquet managed to do just well enough (seventh place) to win the overall driver's title by a single point. Not that Piquet's chief rival, Sebastien Buemi, is about to cry -- he secured the team title for E.dams-Renault after winning the first London race on June 27th.
E.Dams-Renault wins Formula E's first team title
The all-electric Formula E racing league is on the cusp of finishing its inaugural season, and it's already handing out the first prizes. The E.dams-Renault team has clinched the Formula E's first-ever team title after drivers Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Prost respectively placed first and seventh in the initial race of the London ePrix, giving the organization a secure lead over Audi. The event wasn't as exciting as others (Buemi took the lead early and held it), but it sets up what should be a fierce rivalry for the driver's title in the last race on June 28th. Buemi is now just a stone's throw away from frontrunner Nelson Piquet -- you can be sure that both EV racers will be determined to finish out in front.
Formula E adds extra race to season climax at London's Battersea Park
The UK's Donington Park racetrack was chosen as the official home of Formula E last year, so it was only fitting that the final race of the inaugural championship be held in Blighty, too. The plan has always been to close out the season in London, but you can't exactly turn part of the capital into a racing circuit without cutting through reams of red tape. The initial proposal to transform Battersea Park into a makeshift track was approved late last year, but race organisers can breath a further sigh of relief as full planning permission has now been granted by Wandsworth Council. This was essential, as there would be no ePrix without the temporary facilities required for race teams and spectators alike. The Battersea Park racetrack -- the layout of which is yet to be finalised -- won't host just one event, though, as the FIA has also announced the London leg will become a double-header, with separate races being held on June 27th and 28th.
Formula E to let teams build their own batteries and motors
Now that the first major race is out of the way, which took place in Beijing a couple of weeks ago, it's time for Formula E to look toward the future. Accordingly, CEO Alejandro Agag has revealed some interesting details ahead of the EV racing league's sophomore season, namely its plans to allow teams to build batteries and motors of their own by then. As great and exciting as Formula E is, currently all cars are using hardware from the same manufacturer, so allowing others to take part will bring it more in line with Formula 1, in which there are engines from the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault. "They could build their own whole car if they wanted. But the regulations are quite strict and they don't allow a lot of development in aerodynamics, but they do allow development in motor and battery," Agag stated. He said the idea is for Formula E to have "three or four" different companies working on motors and batteries, something that would definitely make the competition even more interesting.
Formula E's first race ends in spectacular fashion
Worried that the all-electric Formula E racing league will somehow be less exciting than its gas-powered Formula 1 counterpart? Don't be. The inaugural Beijing race ended on Saturday with about as much drama as you'd expect from conventional motorsports. The last lap involved a neck-and-neck battle between Renault's Nicolas Prost and Venturi's Nick Heidfeld that ended in a spectacular crash at the last corner (shown below); Prost says he inadvertently clipped Heidfeld while jockeying for position. Audi's Lucas di Grassi ultimately claimed the historic first win by waltzing past his wrecked rivals. There's no guarantees that the upcoming Malaysia race will produce such a spectacular finish, but it's clear that eco-friendly competitions don't necessarily lead to friendly driving.
Watch this: the first Formula E race is tomorrow in Beijing
After a couple years of careful planning, the inaugural Formula E season is set to hit the track this weekend. Tomorrow's race is set for 3:30 AM ET in Beijing on a circuit that's laid out on around the iconic Bird's Nest venue from the 2008 Olympics. Anxious at-home spectators in the US can catch the action on Fox Sports 1 while UK viewers can tune in via ITV4. The Spark-Renault cars carry McLaren 200kW electric motors, systems and transmissions that equate to 0-60 MPH (0-100 km/h) in three seconds with a top speed of 150 MPH (225 km/h). During the first season, the 10-race schedule features stops in the States, Argentina and Monaco before wrapping up with the London ePrix in June 2015. Update: Qualifying is over, and e.dams-Renault driver Nicolas Prost has snagged the first-ever Formula E pole with a 1.42.200 lap around the Beijing circuit. [Photo credit: GOH CHAI HIN/AFP/Getty Images]
'Forza 5' will be the first racing game with a Formula E electric racer
Turn 10 has just revealed that it'll bring the hum of electric power to Forza 5 with the Spark-Renault SRT-01E racing car. That'd mark the first EV from the fledgeling Formula E racing series in any game -- in fact, the actual series itself won't launch until September 13th in Beijing. The Spark-Renault SRT-01E was the first car to be homologated by the FIA for Formula E, and features a 200kW (270 bhp) motor and 888 kg (2,000 pound) curb weight. As you were likely wondering, it also produces about 80 decibels at full power -- that's a bit more than your car, but far, far less than the 140 screeching decibels of a pedal-to-the-metal Formula 1 racer. There's no word on when it'll arrive to Forza 5, but it would make sense to co-launch it with the Formula E series in Beijing next month.
Formula E racers unite to accelerate EV innovation
A new, high-profile and all-electric motorsport will debut on the city streets of Beijing this September, and it's called Formula E. While it's a form of entertainment like any racing series, the championship has a far greater aspiration than just putting on a good show, and that's to accelerate the development of new technology that can benefit consumer EVs. "The real purpose is to drive innovation... to put the most talented engineers onto a problem and solve it," Sylvain Filippi, Chief Technology Officer of the Virgin Racing team, told us.
